MP’s ‘deadwood’ IPS officer now stem-cell therapy expert

BHOPAL: Almost five years after IPS officer Mayank Jain was suspended following raids by Madhya Pradesh Lokayukta in a disproportionate assets case, the corruption watchdog has concluded that there is ‘insufficient evidence’ to prosecute him. Jain, a 1995 batch officer, was handed compulsory retirement by the home ministry in August 2018. Lokayukta’s special police establishment (SPE) has filed a closure report in Jain’s case before a c. This has put the government in a fix as the officer will have to be restored in his job if the court accepts Lokayukta’s closure report. Jain, on the other hand, doesn’t want to get back to police service and continues with his medical research into stem-cell therapy for anti-ageing, which he took up after being forcibly retired. “Lokayukta has done an evidencebased investigation and submitted a closure report in my case. Now it’s for the court to decide,” Jain told TOI. Jain was suspended by then chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan after the June 2014 raids on his premises. An orthopaedic surgeon, Jain moved on and got into stem cell research, say sources. After being forced to retire in ‘public interest’ — following approval of Cabinet Appointments Committee, headed by the Prime Minister — the officer approached CAT, claiming he was condemned unheard and got the order stayed. He says Lokayukta “overlooked basic principles of natural justice” while initiating action against him. Madhya Pradesh home secretary Naresh Paal told TOI that the state government is awaiting a communication from the home ministry in Jain’s case. The state government was asked to retire Jain with “salary of three months”, said sources. The state home department has written to the Centre for clarification on this. “The Centre has not specified which three months he should be paid,” said Paal. Asked about further steps, Paal said that the Lokayukta’s closure report was filed after MHA’s order against him. “Lokayukta raids and MHA’s action are two separate things. The state will have to wait for the court’s decision on Lokayukta’s closure report for further action. The rest has to been taken care of by MHA only,” said an officer of the home department.